Service signaling system



Sept. 2, 1941'. 'w. H. CLEHM' SERVICE SIGNALING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet l led April 1a, 1958 Z3456789wHmBm=l 23456789. ..HRBM5 W. H. CLEHM SERVICE SIGNALING SYSTEM.

Sept. 2, 1941.

Filed April 18, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2' WE 53 Y fl W 7 -7 4 1? DELIVER WAIT NEWCAR WRECK TIME WASH LUBRICATE MEGMNICNMEMPNNT OPERATOR m v y W W N 5% m v.m m m m W a W H m m m m m .m 0 w w w H. O O W R3 9 A Z 4 m g @Q .1 {3K n 51 o a K L; g g. W m lb w a. mm W 0 n 9. a m 7 W W 4 5 I II Sept. 2',- 1941. w LEHM 2,254,643

SERVICE SIGNALING SYSTEM Filed A ril 1a, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5- y I ru u JJ-IJJ INVENT OR.

Sept-2,1941. w. H. CLEHM SERVICE SIGNALING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 18, 1958 INVENT OR.

WIL IAM H. CLEHM Sept. 2; 1941. w, H, CLEHM 2,254,643

SERVICE SIGNALING SYS'I'EM Filed April 18, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 6 INVENTOR.

w/ IAM H. cum/m. e

Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PA EN OFFICE g SERVICE sronaiimo SYSTEM; f William H. Clehm, Goldwater, N. j Application'lipril 18.1938. Serial Nmztpaeis {j -My present invention relates to signaling and it has-forjits particular ob'jectthe provision of a board display register of ordered acts in a place of business whereby units to be entered for attention are registered categorically. the services or operations to bra-performed upon said units are registered, designations are made. in connection therewith of the attention that is-being given to specificlorders and a time limit for completion is set; The improvements are directed in;v part'to the construction of the display board and tothe construction of a manual whereby the control board is manipulated. -'I o these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvementsand combinations of parts, all as will beh'ereinafter'more fully set forth, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of thisspecification. v 4

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a-signalboard and a manual for control thereof applicable to "one class of use;

Fig. 2 is a similar viewof a companion board and manualuseful in. a modified gfield of operation;

of the signal board-shown in Fig. l; v

Fig. 4 is a top plan or edge viewofsuch board'; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view partially broken away of the manual for the boardeof Figs. 1 and 3; Fig. 6 isa diagrammatic view'of typical circuit arrangements involved;

V Fig. 3 is an enlarged view partially broken'awa'y :1

I Fig. 7 is an end view ,ofythe manuals'of Figs. 1' r a gC01lSl1ltl1lg ointly the signal board and the man- 1 and 2;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view-of one ofthe workmans jacks used on the manuals fo'r "clos i ng certain circuits Fig. 9 is a'simi'lar view 'of another jack of the same general nature used for the same purpose 40 under differentcircumstances; t I

Fig. 10 is: a bottom plan View of the board of the manual of Fig, 1;

Fig. 11 is an end view of the mechanism of Fig. 10 in operative position;

Fig. 12 is a similar view of the same mechanism in inoperative position; I Fig. 13 is a front view of the controlling mechanism of the manual as shown in Fig. 125 f Fig. l4 is' an end view of the control mechanism of'the manual as shown in Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is an elevation of the time indicating mechanism, enlarged;

Figf16 isa top plan view of the same mecha-.

nism on the same scale, and

Fig. 17. is satisfie elevation of the dial arrangementof, thetime mechanism units.-

signed for the purpose of aiding in entering automobiles in agarage or service station and keeping track of operations with respect thereto. For instance, thelmodern automobile salesroom --is 10"also, of necessity, a service station. When a used (second hand) car is soldand before delivery to the customer, it. is given a road-test; special work may-be required tobe done thereon as a result of theroad test; it :15 thereafter washed; it is 15 greased;- itmay have mechanical troubles tobe corrected before: delivery or metal and paint jobs done with respect-thereto;

.Somewhatth e :same as well asdifierent treat ment is-accorded. new cars or customers cars 0 thatarebroughtin. .They are presented for" washing, greasing, mechanical =trouble,'lubric-ation, etc. There may be-an order'to attenda wreck andbring-in the carand generally. with a respect to both newcars and old,'there isa-desire to know where the car. came from, where it' is in the shop, q hetheritis tob'e called for or delivered and the time of day'that it shall be readyfor. delivery; The'superintendent or foreman, on: the :other hand, is" also interested in knowing the disposition of' his workmen, that is.

what'man, is-working on what .job, andwhich men it any-areidle. Through the use of this invention'he-can ascertainall of these facts from ual or'keyboard,-while the-workman in the same way, can tell by inspection how many jobs are ahead of him and'which requires his more immediate attention.) T'

,In the-practice of my invention in general, I

establish 'in the shop under the authority of a foreman-or general superintendent aboard on which by signal the reception of the'ca'r is indicated for him and by him. There isnext indicated-o'nthe board the department to which the car first goesand :allof the departments that will be required to service it completely. Arrangements are made-whereby a workman in that department accepts .thecar and registers upon the board the fact that he has it in charge. An

car has been taken over for such attention. The superintendent through the use of a time indicator informs the workman the time for which the car has been promised by him for call or delivery and at the same time registers for himself the promise in this respect that he has made to the customer.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have illustrated tandem signal boards S and S adapted to be mounted at an elevated point in a suitable location in the establishment together with manuals individual to each indicated at M and M. The reason for the two signal boards is that used car service is, as aforesaid, in certain respects, peculiar to used cars, whereas the general servicing of customer's cars and the delivery of new cars are different in their demands in many respects. gregated in order not to overload one board from the standpoint of easy and rapid reading thereof with the signals of the other group not so often used. As the mode of operation and construction of the board S contains substantially everything present in the board S, I have shown and will describe in detail only the board S.

We will assume that the boards are in charge of a superintendent in or near the shops with a corps of workmen under his direction and which superintendent receives from the oihce in the way of shop tickets the orders that come in. When such an order is received by the superintendent, he writes the necessary data with which he is concerned, such as the name of the purchaser or customer, the motor and the automobile engine number, the State license number, etc., upon an individual card or slip which is inserted in one of a vertical column of slip holders 1 on the manual M, the particularconstruction and mode of operation of which holders will be later described. The manual is conveniently arranged for writing purposes and other manipulations in the manner of a desk body 2 supported on legs 3 and conveniently carrying the battery 4 for energizing the operating circuits. On the present manual there are of these holders indicating that 15 cars can be received and entertained at one time. Transverse rows of devices on a manual including the respective holders l are designated by a vertical column of numbers 5 at the left of the manual and so far as the shop is concerned, a particular car so entered thereafter becomes, for practical purposes, car 1, 7, 15 or whatever it may be and the devices in the corresponding transverse rows apply individually thereto.

Such devices consist of jack plug circuit closing sockets 6, I and 8 and finger switches 9, l0 and II. These plugs and switches are arranged, as shown, in vertical as well as intersecting transverse columns and rows, some of which latter include a plug and a switch and some either one or the other, only, for reasons that will later appear. The heads of the columns on the manual bear designations of specific instructions and specific operations that can be identified by the letterings on the drawings without use of further reference numerals. Reviewing these and reading from left to right in Fig. 6, car No. 1 is either to be delivered to the customer when finished or, if a small job, the customer may wait for it; the car may be a new car just sold and to be prepared to turn over to the purchaser or it may be a Wreck that is brought in; all concerned wish to know the time that the repaired or conditioned car is promised; the job ordered may relate to Therefore, these groups are se-' washing, lubricating, mechanical repair or painting. The last jack column 8 at the right does not relate to the car but to the workman or operator and should be ignored for present purposes, as will be explained.

Turning now to the wall signal board M of Fig. 3, this embodies identical or equivalent designations and representations. It has the left hand vertical column of car numbers 5S running 1 to 15. It has vertical column divisions corresponding to the vertical column divisions of the manual headed and footed with the same designations Delivery, Wait, New car, Wreck," etc. running across. The areas of these divisions running transversely across the columns are, however, devoted to signals responsive to the switch and signal closing devices of the manual. Taking the case of car No. 1, for instance. These signals comprise a Delivery signal 611, a Wait signal 911, a New car" signal 9b, a Wreck signal 90, Wash," Lubricate and other signals Ila. There is another vertical column of signal lights under the designation Operator which will be later described as stated in connection with the description of the manual.

Such signals, in general, consist of optical lenses or light transmitting glasses of contrasting colors as shown by the hatchings on the drawings. There is also a vertical column under the heading Time consisting of luminous clock dials Illa, each provided with a rotary hand 12 which corresponds to and is controlled by the vertical Time column of the switches ID on the manual of Fig. 5.

It is believed that an explanation of the mode of operating the apparatus, as explained up to this point, without further referenc to specific structure will hasten an understanding of the mode of utilizing the device. We will suppose that the superintendent receives an order for work on a car driven in and which he enters as (ill est

'lw and Metal-paint, for instance, to energize the car No. 1 in car designating column 552. His shop card tells him the identification to be placed on the slip in holder 1 which he enters. This reveals the fact (1) that the car is to be delivered when the job is completed, (2) that it is a wreck job, (3) that it is promised th customer at 4 o'clock, (4) that there are mechanical repairs, (5) that metal and paint is to be restored.

Switch 9 on the manual M is a two-way switch and the superintendent throws it in a way that will light signal Go on the board, each of these signal lenses being provided in the rear with a light bulb I3, controlled by said switches, as

. shown in Fig. 4. He next throws switch 9 under the column New car-wreck on the manual, which is also a two-way switch, in the proper direction to show that it is a wreck case which illuminates the corresponding signal on the board. At this point, it is explained that while it is convenient to place New car and Wreck" in one column on the manual, as shown, in view of the use of the two-way switch, it is better to have the New car" category and the Wreck category on the signal board S in separate columns for obvious reasons.

If the car is promised at a definite time, the superintendent manipulates switch III, which is an individual switch for time indication, to operate the time mechanism hereinafter described and give a proper reading on th dial of transverse column 58, car No. 1, under the Time vertical column head. Finally, he closes the appropriate switches H under Mechanical (car .No. 1), finds and takes the car. to his department'or booth and starts working on it. He

indicates the fact that he is working on it in the following manner:

In the same area of the vertical Mechanical column of the board is a small red signal light in the nature of a pilot light indicated at m. This is controlled by the circuit closer of the jack socket l on manual M under the heading Mechanical. At the right side of manual desk 2 (Figs. 6 and 7) is an angle bracket l4 having apertures therein for a plurality of jack plugs 15 and I6, shown in detail in Figs. 8 and'9. These are numbered as shown and each workman has a number corresponding to the jacks or vice versa just as the incoming cars have the numbers 5S.v

We will assume that this is workman No. 1. He takes his jack I 5 of the corresponding number and inserts it in jack socket 7 of the manual un der vertical column Mechanical. This energizes pilot signal 1a just referred to and the superintendent thereafter inspecting the board knows, by the lighting of pilot light la, that the mechanical job on car No; 1 i in progress. By looking at the manual and inspecting the number of the jack in socket 1 under Mechanical, he knows that workman No. 1, in contradistinction to several other workmenthat might have accepted the job, is engaged on it. We now turn to the painter who observes signal Ha under the board heading"Metal-paint, which afiects his department. He is temporarily at leisure and he also observes that car No.1 is in the mechanical department and in'work. By further inspecting the manual he can tell, in the same way that the superintendent did, that workman No. 1 is engaged on it. Without bothering the superintendent, he can, therefore, go to workman No. 1 and find out about when the car will be released for the next operation that he himself is to perform in the paint department.

When workman No. 1 in the mechanical department has finished with the car he goes to the manual, removes his jack No. 1 from jack socket 1 under the heading Mechanical, the pilot signal light 1a is extinguished and then the superintendent knows that that part of the or der has been fulfilled because the workman at the same time throws switch I l and eliminates all signals. under the vertical heading Mechanical or, of course, this can be done by the superintendent, according to the particular arrangement.

'Workman No. 8, we will say (the painter), now gets car No. 1 from Workman No. 1, moves it into the paint shop, (signal Ha being still energized), inserts his jack [5 (numbered 8) in jack socket I under the Paint job. vertical column and small pilot light 111 thereof becomes energized showing that the. car has been thus transferred and is receiving attention.

So it goes along the whole line. respect to these jacks, each workman has a jack But with mung. a) and a jack l6 (Fig. 9) both bearing his number. They are distinguished in some arbitrary manner, as by the fact that that shown in Fig. 16 has a red band around the head thereof while the other is plain. This provision is made for the following purpose: Suppose Workman 1 is engaged on a long job in the mechanical department on car No. 1. Car No. 2 comes in, requiring a relatively short period of mechanical attention. Workman No. 1 is the only mechanical man available. It is desired to dispose of car No. 2 because car No. 1 is a long job and there is plenty of time anyway. Workman No. 1, therefore, accepts the job on car No. 2, places red jack IS in the jack socket 1 of car No. 2, horizontal row, at thesame time leaving his plain jack No. v5 in the same socket 1 of car No. 1. The result isjthat the superintendent returning to his station, consulting the board and observing the two jacks on the manual at once sees that workman No. lis working on both cars at the same time and that both are, therefore, receiving attention by the same man. When workman No. 1 completes his'temporary diversion to car No. 2, he returns to the manual, withdraws his red plug No. 1 and restores it to the rack l4 and goes back to his work on car No. 1.

Of course, when the said car No. l is serviced in all departments, the slip and holder 1 is removed, the signal switches affecting the same in that horizontal row are allrestored to neutral and all of the plugs l5 and I6 are restored to rack 14 ready for the advent of another car to be treated under the samenumerical designation. i

Withrespect to all of the pilot or working lights appearing on the'board in connection with the various operation designations, the action is the same but with respect to the first vertical column under Deliver, it is explained that the pilot light there indicatesthatthe car is on its Way to the customer. In other words, the drivers who perform this particular function have numbered jacks on the rack Hi just like the workmen and when they 'take a car out for delivery, they place their individual jack in the delivery socket removing it when they return to the shop and extinguishingthe pilot light.

One skilled in the art to which the invention appertains could, with'the apparatus .above described, devise circuitseffe'cting the results tobe accomplished between the jacks and switches of the manuals and the signals of the signal boards.

However, to complete the disclosure, I have shown in Fig. 6 a diagram of one such circuit plan. The switch at the left hand end of the diagram concerns,Delivery signal Econ the board S and Wait signal 9a in the first and second vertical columns thereof respectively. These are alternative instructions, as explained. Hence, switch 9 is a two-way switch and the single vertical column on thermanual for it and the jack 6 controls the first two vertical columns of signals Ba and 9a. of the signal board S, together with (indirectly) the pilot or attention signal la of the first column. When the superintendent wishes to register a Wait job, switch 9 is thrown to the right in thediagram and closes a circuit from battery 4 through wire ll, wire 18, the said switch contact l9, wire 20, signal 3a, wire 2| and negative wire 22 back to battery 4, wires 11 and 22 being respectively positive and negative wires of the energizing circuit between which all of the signaling circuits are arranged in. parallel. This simple circuit through that signal is all that is required because the said Wait designation is a matter of information and not instruction.

On the contrary, the Delivery designation of the first vertical column is a matter of instruction--hence the provision of the pilot or attention light la and the jack sockets 6 associated therewith. In the event that delivery is required, switch 9 in the diagram is thrown to the left instead of to the right to a contact 23. This contact leads through a wire 24 to a two-way switch 25 normally closed on a contact 26 leading through a wire 21 to signal lamp 6a and thence through wires 2| .and 22 back to battery 4. Switch 25 of the diagram does not apear on the manual as such because it is operated only by a jack plug in socket 6.

This is the initial energizing of the Delivery signal 6a. When the workman charged with this Deliver activity observes this signal 6a and is at liberty to assume the job, he takes his jack I5 and inserts it in jack socket 6. The efiect of this is to throw switch 25 from normal contact 26 to contact 21 on a parallel circuit including wire 28, pilot signal Ia, wire 29 and wire 22 back to the negative side of battery 4. The Deliver signal 6a will be extinguished by the jack but the pilot Ia energized showing that the driver workman is on the job and that the car in question is on its way to the customer. Upon the return of this workman or driver, he removes his jack aforesaid, also throws switch 9 to neutral and both signals 60, and 1a are restored, closing the transaction with respect to car No. 1 or whichever it may be. On the same principle, the next switch 90: at this left end of the manual row connected by a wire 30 from positive lead |1 may be thrown to the right to a contact 3| which through wire 32 energizes Wreck signal 90 and thence the circuit continues to negative parallel 22 through wire 33 or the switch may be thrown to the left to contact 34 and through wire 35 energize signal 9b indicating New car.

Returning to the matter of the Time designation Illa before referred to and having in mind the purpose thereof previously described, the object is to place under the control of the said superintendent who supervises the manuals M and M and hence the recordings of the boards S and S connected therewith the capacity to manually control such stop clock system I00. with which the board S is furnished. In the present embodiment, such dials Illa, are repeated in the vertical column under Time so that one such dial appears in each horizontal row under the car entries in the shop, 1 to 15. These dials are translucent and the time indication is made by a rotary illuminated hand 36 (Figs. 15, 16 and 17) that rotates in rear thereof. The hand is also translucent but carries the electrical light bulb 3'! in rear thereof so that in any of its positions its brilliance is cast upon the said translucent dials in distinguishing arrangements with the surrounding numbers 38 thereo Switch l controls both the mechanical rotary operation of hand 36 and the accompanying illumination thereof through bulb 31. The said hand 36 is mounted on a shaft or spindle 39 suitably mounted in a bearing bracket 40 to which spindle is fixed a ratchet 4|, all of this mechanism being enclosed within or attached to a suitable casing 42 mounted on the back of board S, there being such mechanism for each of the cars provided for. Associated therewith is a suitable low voltage motor in the casing 42 embodying a crank arm 43 on the shaft thereof. A wrist pin 44 on this crank is connected to a link 45 restrained by a spring 46. The said link 45 has a pallet tooth 41 cooperating with the teeth of the ratchet 4| whereas a spring detent 48 prevents retrograde movement of the ratchet wheel. The idea is that as long as the circuit to the motor is held closed the crank 43 will continue to revolve and as it passes and repasses its center the link 45 will, through the tooth 41, communicate the current impulses to the ratchet 4| and keep the indicator hand 36 revolving in a clockwise direction. It is obvious that this movement of the hand will continue as long as the circuit is closed but at any point at which it is opened 01' interrupted the hand will stop at the desired designation on the dial 38.

The operating control and electrical connections of this time registering mechanism appears at the central portion of the diagram of Fig. 6. Switch I0 is a two-way switch which when thrown to the right is adapted to cooperate simultaneously with two contacts 9| and 92 and when thrown to the left to engage with a single contact 98. The first mentioned movement is made when the superintendent wishes to set the clock to a particular reading. In that case, the circuit is closed from battery 4, wire l1, wire 9!], switch Ill, wire 96, the signal light on the hand of the dial Ha, wire 91, and back through wire 22 to battery. This illuminates the hand and dial. At the same time, a circuit is closed from battery, wire l1, wire 90, switch l0, contact 92, wire 93, motor 42, wire 94 and back to battery through wire 22, thus energizing the motor so that the hand revolves. When the hand reaches the desired reading, the switch is thrown out breaking both of these circuits but it is immediately transferred over to contact 98 which closes the parallel circuit, battery 4, wire wire 90, switch l0, contact 98, wire 95, a portion of wire 96 to the hand signal lamp, wire 91 and back to battery through wire 22 so the motor remains tie-energized but the dial and hand remain illuminated for the observation of the workmen and the purposes first above generally set forth. This switch, of course, has a normal neutral position as the dial light is energized only when the car of this number is in the shop and even then it is not always necessary to set a time limit.

We now come to the right side of the signal board S and manual M bearing the column desi nated Wash, Lubricate, Mechanical, Metal-paint (which latter is not a double column but a joint service department) and ending with the Operator column of designations. In the diagram only one of these four groups of service signals is designated and hence only one of the switches ll, so that they may be taken to represent any one of these allocations. However, switches H are snap switches without neutral positions and the one shown is normally on contact 49 in a normally open circuit as will appear. When it is reversed by the superintendent to designate the service required, say, Wash, it is thrown oppositely to a contact 50 closing a circuit from battery 4, wire wire 5|, switch ll, wire 52, signal Ila, wires 53 and 22 and back to battery. As before, when the workman takes charge of the car in response to such signal, he inserts his jack plug I5 in the corresponding socket I that actuates and thereby closes normally open contact member 54 against contact 55. At the same time he reverses switch back he finishes the job he returns the jack to the to contact 49, extinguishing call signal Hal. This closes the circuit through the Wash or corresponding pilot light 1a on the board as follows: battery 4, wire l1, wire 5!, switch ll, wire 56, contact 54, contact 55, wire 57, pilot 1a, wire 58 back to battery through wire 22. On completion of the job, the removal of the jack plug extinguishes the pilot light which establishes that fact and all circuits are restored to normal. I

Attention is now directed to the last column of signals 59 on the board S under the heading Operator and the reader is here warned that these bear no direct relationship to the last column of plug sockets 8 on the manual M. The

function of the former is merely to indicate at aglance that a particular car I, 1 or I5 is being worked upon somewhere in the establishement. I, therefore, provide means for automatically energizing this signal with the lighting of any one of the pilot lights 11; with the exception of the pilot light on the designation Deliver because, obviously, when the driver is with that car it is out and not in the shop. This means is shown beyond the break at the right of the diagram.

When contact 54 is closed against contact 55, as

previously described, it also makes connection with the contact 60 and the following circuit is established through signal 59: battery 4, wire l'i, wire 5|, switch I I, contact 49, wire 56, contact Bl), contact 54, wire 6!, signal 59, wire 62, and through wire 22 back to battery. It is broken, of course, with the removal of the jack plug that energizes any particular pilot light but signal 59 is in parallel with all of the pilot light circuits so as long as any one of the latter is energized this same signal 59 will remain energized.

The horizontal row of signals 63 at the top of signal board S bearing numerals running, in the present instance, from 1 to 11 has no connection with either the card identification designations 58 or the workmens numbers on the jack plugs l5 and [6. On the contrary, it identifies what may be termed the various stalls in the establishment, some of which may accommodate several cars at one time or may not as the paint shop in the one case and the individual wash racks in the other. The superintendent may wish to know which of these departments are busy.

All of the signals 63 which, as in the other cases, consist of translucent windows with lamps behind them, are normally energized, that is, a particular stall is empty when its light is on. The circuit so established as shown in the diagram of Fig. 6 i

is battery 4, wire l1, wire 64, through a contact 65 normally closed on a contact 66, wire 61, signal 63, wire 68 and back to battery through negative wire 22.

Turning now to the last column of jack plug sockets 8 on the manual M, workmen when not engaged leave their primary jack plugs l5 in these sockets 8, the rack is being utilized for extra jacks and the secondary colored jacks I6. The sockets 8 are conveniently numbered with the same column of numbers 69 at the right hand end of the manual that can be incidentally utilizedat this point for identifying the cars received. If, for instance, a workman responding to a call signal is a washer and stall H of the signal 63 is his wash rack, he removes the plug from the 11th socket 8 when he takes charge of the car. This extinguishes this particular signal 63 of stall H because the presence of the jack is what holds contacts 64 and 66 normally closed. When .of the manual, so far as board S is concerned,

though utilized on the manual itself for the purposes described. In the same way the plug sockets 8 have nothing to do with the signals 59 though similarly arranged on the two instrumentalities.

I will now describe the mechanical arrangements of the manual M whereby the shop record, card or slip of a particular car giving the name, license, etc. for the written record, as first explained, is inserted thereon. Each card or slip lies between a pair of clamping ribs 16 having stems H extending down through slots E2 in the table or desk 13 that constitutes the surface of the manual. These stems are spaced by tubular members 14 and held together for joint actuation by cotter pins 75 extending through the stems and tubes. A bowed leaf spring 16 reacting at its center against the underside of the table has its ends engaged with the member 15 under tension. The ribs 10 therefore normally operate as clamps that draw down against the table and hold the slip or card securely in the space I for writing purposes. To release them, there is supported in brackets 11 depending from the underside of the table a yoke 18 having pivotal bearings 19 and therein. Connecting the arms of the yoke is a rod or roller 8| off of the center 19-86. The axis thereof and the yoke itself runs transversely of the column of spaces I and holders H1 and the stems H thereof are continuous flanges, as appears in Figs. 13 and 14. Pivot 80 is extended to the front of the manual, as shown also in Fig. 7, to terminate in an accessible hand knob 82. When this knob is turned to the left, as in Figs. 11 and 13, the rod 8| of the yoke is rotated downwardly to clear the stem flanges TI and the springs 16 hold the clamping rib-s 10 in operative or clamping position. When the knob is rotated to'the right, as in Figs. 12 and 14, the rod Bl engages the stem flanges H, rides upon them and tilts them upwardly as it moves to a dead center and thereupon the slips or cards may be slid in or out beneath the clamping flanges.

With an apparatus constructed and functioning substantially in accordance with this disclosure, much time and confusion can be saved particularly in the larger automobile sale and service stations. The superintendent has before him at all times full identification of all the cars that have entered the shop, where they are, what has been done to them, the jobs that remain and the time delivery is promised either to the waiting customer or at an outside point. He also knows at a glance at signal board and manual the person working on the car at the time. The workmen on the other hand, by consulting the board without bothering the superintendent, can immediately see the work that lies ahead of them, whether a particular car is accessible or not for their immediate attention and from where they may expect to obtain or receive it. In the meantime, persons from the oifice can answer inquiries without consulting any body by mere inspection of the board.

In this last connection, it is pointed out that the manual M and signal board S or S may be located at relatively remote points, and it is obvious that the signal boards may be duplicated at widely separated points as in the shop and also in the office with both operated from the shop manual simultaneously.

Although, as far as I am now informed, my invention in all its aspects is of greatest utility in an automobile service establishment, important features thereof might well be employed in other activities which have in common similar usages and requirements.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having a column of designations of units to be entered for attention, a plurality of relatively transverse rows of designations of different acts to be selectively performed upon said units, a signal for each such act designation in each row individual to that particular unit thereof, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers, individual pilot signals associated with appropriate individual designations to indicate response thereto, and electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals including the pilot lights.

2. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having a column of designations of units to be entered for attention, a plurality of relatively transverse rows of designations of different acts to be selectively performed upon said units, a signal for each such act designation in each such row individual to each particular unit of the unit column, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers, pilot signals on the signal board associated with appropriate individual act designations of the said rows to indicate response thereto, the circuit closers for the pilot signals embodying jack sockets, a plurality of jacks respectively having prearranged characteristics identifying them with different individual workmen, and electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals.

3. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having a column of designations of units to be entered for attention, a plurality of relatively transverse rows of designations of different acts to be selectively performed upon said units, a ignal for each such act designation in each such row individual to each particular unit of the unit column, a signal common to all the act designations of the same kind in all the rows, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers, pilot signals on the signal board associated with appropriate individual act designations of the said rows to indicate response thereto, the circuit closers for the pilot signals embodying jack sockets, a plurality of jacks respectively having prearranged characteristics identifying them with different individual workmen, and electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals, the jack of the pilot signal of a particular act designation being also adapted to affect the signal circuit for the said column acts in all the rows.

4. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having the designation of a unit to be entered for attention, a plurality of designations on the board of different acts to be selectively performed upon said unit, a signal for each such act designation, a pilot signal associated with appropriate act designation signals to indi cate the performance of each such act, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers, and electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals.

5. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having the designation of a unit to be entered for attention, a plurality of designations on the board of different acts to be selectively performed upon said unit, a signal for each such act designation, a pilot signal associated with appropriate act designation signals to indicate the performance of each such act, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers, electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals, and an additional signal in circuit with all of the pilot signals designating the same act to be energized as long as any one of them is closed.

6. In a signaling system embodying a display register of ordered acts, the combination with a signal board having a column of designations of units to be entered for attention, a plurality of relatively transverse rows of designations of different acts to be selectively performed upon said units, a signal for each such act designation in each row individual to that particular unit thereof, a selective control board embodying banks of circuit closers arranged in duplication of the arrangement of the said signals, electrical circuits connecting the respective circuit closers with the respective signals, a clock dial in each act designating row, an indicator signal therefor embodying a hand and a lamp for selectively illuminating the same, and a motor device for rotating the latter, the corresponding circuit closer on the control board and its circuit to the hand signal being also adapted to energize the motor.

WILLIAM H. CLEHM. 

